PURSON — The Circle and the Blue Door (review)

PURSON — The Circle and the Blue Door album cover

Album · 2013 · Heavy Psych

5/5 · 2014-09-10
adg211288

The Circle and the Blue Door (2013) is the debut full-length album by UK heavy psych act Purson. Purson was formed by vocalist/guitarist Rosalie Cunningham after the breakup of her previous outfit Ipso Facto. The band line-up seems to have changed a lot in between the recording and release of The Circle and the Blue Door, with both a band and recording line-up credited. Rosalie Cunningham herself is the only constant member.

The music on The Circle and the Blue Door is a progressive influenced form of heavy psych (psychedelic hard rock) with quite the retro aesthetic. It wouldn't be completely wrong to group the band with the current wave of so called witch rock bands (a term I don't particularly support), that includes the more doom metal orientated acts like Purson's (now former, as Purson severed ties with Rise Above Records after just this one album) label-mates Blood Ceremony. Purson themselves are much more on the psychedelic side of this trend though and don't have metal elements in their music, though I can certainly see the band fitting with and appealing to fans of the same crowd. The closest I think they've come to metal was the song Wool which appeared on their prior EP Rocking Horse (2012) but that song wasn't carried over to The Circle and the Blue Door. The EP title track and Spiderwood Farm (a really addictive track this one, but that's true of the whole release) in an extended version were though. So even though The Circle and the Blue Door isn't a metal release in any way it certainly isn't wrong to consider Purson to be an honorary member of the metal scene. This is the sort of music that sounds older than it is, so had it been released in the time it sounds like it should have been from it would have probably been considered proto-metal years down the track.

Though there is also a reasonable amount of lighter music to be found on the album Purson can still certainly rock out with the best of them. This is evident in tracks like Spiderwood Farm, Leaning On A Bear and Well Spoiled Machine among others. There's no quality difference between the heavier and lighter music on the album though, with songs like Sailor's Wife's Lament also standing out. The two dynamics really play off well against each other making The Circle and the Blue Door a very engaging listen. It's a great album even from the first spin and just seems to keep on giving and getting better and better even as familiarity sets in. Rosalie Cunningham is obviously the star of this show being not only frontwoman but also chief composer. The music is great throughout and her vocals are easily the icing on the cake that makes The Circle and the Blue Door great for many repeat spins and counting. I did single out a few songs already as examples of how the music sounds but to pick any as a highlight over another would be doing an injustice as well as giving an accolade. I will say that my personal favourite is Spiderwood Farm though but you can pick most of the album's eleven tracks and have a song that deserves to be called the best. I guess the only one that can't is Wake Up Sleepy Head but that one is more of an intro in any case.

The Circle and the Blue Door is without a doubt a very high quality debut from Purson. It's addictive well composed music full of charm and if it is anything to go by this young British outfit have a great career ahead of them. I'm sure it'll find not only an appeal from the psych/prog rock crowd but also with other metalheads like me. I came to this album late, in 2014, but if I had discovered this earlier I would definitely have put it right up there with the very best of 2013. 5 Stars.

99/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/purson-the-circle-and-the-blue-door-t3719.html)

more than 2 years ago
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adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Just posting here to point out that after quite a few more listens I decided to update this review to 5 stars.

666sharon666 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Still need to pick this one up. I've sampled a few songs and it sounds great.

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Thanks. Been listening to this a lot. A lot of albums I review then they never end up getting played again, but I'm still spinning this one over two weeks later.